


The Matter of Sorting Abolition

by iluvzuzu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:23:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iluvzuzu/pseuds/iluvzuzu
Summary: The official transcript of the Hogwarts School Board's court proceedings on the matter of the abolition of House Sorting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.





	The Matter of Sorting Abolition

HOGWARTS SCHOOL BOARD

THE MATTER OF SORTING ABOLITION

7 JUNE 1999

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM, SCHOOL BOARD HEAD, PRESIDING AS OFFICIATOR

PROCEEDINGS: (11:00 AM)

 

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: We will discuss today the matter of Sorting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Following the Second Wizarding War, it has been put forth by many students, parents, and other members of Britain and Ireland’s magical community that the sorting of students into the four houses of Hogwarts allows for bullying, ostracization, and, most importantly and dangerously, elitism based on blood status. Our first speaker is Samuel Macmillan, an alumnus of Hogwarts School and parent of alumni Sandra and Ernest, as well as current Hogwarts student Lucy. Mr. Macmillan?

SAMUEL MACMILLAN: The Sorting ought to continue. Sorting gives children a place they belong. It’s been in place since the beginning of Hogwarts School. The children deserve to be around other students with common values. I think it makes them happier, it gives them a place they can go to get away from being ostracized by everyone else. It’s a haven. Not to mention a tradition. Sorting is important to Hogwarts as a school, and it’d be foolish not to continue it. Thank you.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM:  Thank you, Mr. Macmillan. Our next speaker is current Hogwarts student, Astoria Greengrass.

ASTORIA GREENGRASS: Sorting is detrimental to the learning experience of students. As a Slytherin —

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: I will have order in this meeting. Please, control yourselves. Continue, Ms. Greengrass.

ASTORIA GREENGRASS: As a Slytherin, I have been flagrantly bullied, teased, and even once physically attacked by other students, not to mention treated differently by particular teachers because of my house affiliation. I am not a Death Eater. I am not a Blood Purist. I and others like me refuse to sit idly. Students at Hogwarts should not have to fear simply walking down hallways with green neckties on. The administrators of Hogwarts claim the houses foster a healthily competitive rivalry. It is not a rivalry. Not anymore. It is a battlefield, and children are the victims. Sorting must be abolished so Hogwarts may see unity.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Thank you, Ms. Greengrass. Next to speak will be Hogwarts alumnus Lawrence Abbott.

LAWRENCE ABBOTT: I agree completely. I was a proud Hufflepuff in my time at Hogwarts, but times have changed. It’s no secret that the houses encourage segregation. Salazar Slytherin was a notorious Blood Purist, some say he was even a founder of the movement. Ms. Greengrass is right, of course, that not one hundred percent of Slytherins were Death Eaters, but statistically, virtually one hundred percent of Death Eaters were Slytherins. Cooping these people up together is dangerous for the community. I fully support abolishing Sorting. Would-be Slytherin children deserve better influences, they deserve not to be surrounded by that kind of corruption. Thank you.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Thank you, Mr. Abbott. The next speaker is Talia Hatworth, Hogwarts alumna.

TALIA HATWORTH: Look, Law Abbott over there loves his statistics, so I’ll throw in some too. Eighty-five percent of Healers native to Britain and Ireland are Ravenclaws. Don’t Ravenclaw students deserve to live in an environment where their studies are encouraged? Imagine the future Healers of our community intermingling with would-be Gryffindors who’ll convince them to be actors and treasure hunters. The problem isn’t the House system, the problem is Salazar Slytherin’s own ideology. We don’t need to abolish Sorting, we need to abolish Slytherin House. That’s all I’ve got to say.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Thank you, Ms. Hatworth. The next speaker is Pranav Patil, Hogwarts alumnus, Head of the International Magical Office of Law, and father of Hogwarts alumni Padma and Parvati.

PRANAV PATIL: Pureblood elitism isn’t a Slytherin problem. Look at the Pureblood lines that are still strong and intact. The Abbotts, Weasleys, Prewitts, Macmillans, Urqharts, and more. They’ve got barely any Muggle blood in them and they’re largely Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw families. Sorting doesn’t encourage Blood Purism, the families do. Just because the Abbott kids aren’t running around murdering Muggles doesn’t mean they’re not enacting Purism in their daily lives. Sorting is not the problem, here, a lack of Muggle education is. I sent my girls to Muggle school until they were ten years old. They learned about themselves as human beings and as students from a young age, they discovered for themselves their different learning styles. They were sorted into different houses because they have different sets of goals and different educational values which their houses respectively fostered. My children needed their houses in order for them to flourish. It’s not the responsibility of the school to teach the children to show respect for their peers in spite of their differences. It’s the parents’ jobs, at home. Thank you.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Next is Hogwarts alumnus and Puddlemere United Keeper, Oliver Wood. Mr. Wood?

OLIVER WOOD: I’m just saying, we can’t start slashing houses until we’ve got back up plans put in place for things like living arrangement, class scheduling, sport and the like. The school board ought to think about giving Hogwarts a school Quidditch team rather than house teams. They could compete against other Wizarding institutions. Maybe also establish an intramural group for those who want to play but don’t want to compete or travel. That’s my couple o’ sickles.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Thank you, Mr. Wood. Mr. Wood was our last scheduled speaker, so if there is anyone at this meeting who wishes to say anything more, please indicate you wish to do so. Otherwise, the school board will be left alone to discuss this. Yes? Mr. — Oh, Mr. Potter. Please, welcome. Please come to the front. Our next speaker is — well — Harry Potter.

HARRY POTTER: Hi, yeah. Right. Listen, I’m not saying I want to do away with the houses completely, but look, we have to tell the students that it’s not that important where they end up. The Sorting Hat told me when I was sorted that I could have been a Slytherin. And I could have been. The point of Sorting isn’t that we’re only one thing or the other, we — we’ve all got bits of all the houses in us, don’t we? I’ve done quite a bit these past few years, let me tell you. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there are cruel and cowardly Gryffindors, and brave and honorable Slytherins. It doesn’t matter where they go. It matters what they learn when they go there. That’s what we need to be teaching them. We can’t shelter and control them by pretending they’re not different, that they don’t have different personalities and values. That doesn’t help anyone. Being around people you have stuff in common with, that’s not bad. It’s when we let ourselves think those differences make us better or worse than other people. I say keep the houses in place, but stop making them compete against each other for every little thing. Stop making them believe they’ve got to identify with every little bit of their house description. Give them stuff to do together as a school. Don’t divide them anymore.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Order. Please. I’m sorry, Mr. Potter, you may continue.

HARRY POTTER: I — well, I agree with Wood, too. About Quidditch. That kind of united front, a school Quidditch team, would help out a lot, I think. And, and Muggle Studies ought to be mandatory. For all students. No more us and them. We’ve got to teach this next generation to learn from the last one’s mistakes. Last time, that didn’t happen. Grindelwald to Voldemort, no one made any change. We have to, now. This can’t happen again. And we have to start with them, the students. They have to hear it from us. That’s all. Thanks.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM: Thank you very much, Mr. Potter. If anyone else would like to speak, the floor is open. No? Alright, then. The board shall deliberate. We will have reached a decision by week’s end. Thank you all for coming, safe travels. Meeting adjourned.

 

PROCEEDINGS ADJOURNED (11:30 PM)

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what I actually think happens to sorting in a post-Voldemort world. Probably it just keeps going and the wizard n@zis keep dominating Slytherin until one day the wizard alt-r!ght elects a new minister of magic that starts lowkey doing what Volds was highkey doing, because like, we never learn. Still a better war story than The Cursed Child.
> 
> I also don't know if you're supposed to transcribe the crowd's reaction to things when doing official transcripts. I didn't. I'm just one person. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed.


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